Family Duty
by DolbyDigital
Summary: "Pay attention! This is not a joke! This is not a game you are playing with those blood traitors you insist upon interacting with. This is your last chance to make this family proud."


"You will do as I say!"

"But-"

"No! I will not listen to this! Do you have any idea how hard it was to arrange? How much _effort _it took to convince her family that you were... _respectable_ enough to be courting their daughter? How-"

"_Courting_?"

"Pay attention! This is not a joke! This is not a _game_ you are playing with those blood traitors you insist upon interacting with. This is your last chance to make this family proud."

"..."

"Don't you _dare_ look at me like that! You are going and that. Is. _Final._"

* * *

And so – nearly a fortnight later – Sirius Black found himself clothed in his second best dress robes lying in the middle of his bed, glaring up at the bumps and patterns on his ceiling as if they were to blame.

His thoughts travelled to the nightmare that this evening was sure to become – how could it be anything else when his mother so clearly approved whole-heartedly of this girl? She would be stuck up, spoiled, and oh so very Slytherin. Maybe he should have tried harder to foist her onto his brother, but his mother had remained adamant that he was the heir to the House of Black and it was his _duty_.

Just as he was considering climbing out of his window and making a run for it, the house-elf Apparated to the foot of his bed halting any escape plans. Turning his glare on the wretched creature, he waited in silence to hear what it had come to say.

"Y-young Master S-sirius-s, M-mistress wishes you t-to know y-your guests have... have a-rrived," the creature stuttered, keeping its head bowed but eyes glaring daggers at him. Sirius just rolled over with a loud groan, pulling his pillow over his head and trying to block out the feeling of too-large eyes staring at him.

"M-mistress wishes y-you to... to g-reat your g-guests," the creature continued when it became obvious Sirius was not about to get up, clearly angry at being forced to keep its tone respectful.

"No."

"Mistress insists," it hissed, all three feet of it quivering in fury, advancing as if to Apparate him downstairs itself. "Mistress tells Kreacher to use any means necessary to get to the boy," the house-elf proclaimed with malicious delight.

Sirius grabbed the heaviest book within easy reach and threw it at the creature's head, scowling as it Apparated away before the impact. The book landed across the room with a dull thud.

With one last glare, he hauled himself into a standing position and dragged his feet the entire way to the front room. His mother was already seated, but rose when she caught sight of him.

"Ah, Sirius, there you are," to anyone else it would have looked as though she were pleased to see him, but Sirius knew the subtle glint in her eye for what it was – the promise of retribution should this not go exactly the way she had planned; and he was already standing on thin ice for his late entrance.

He must have missed the formal introductions because he was already being ushered to the sofa and handed a delicate cup to too-sweet tea, but it gave him a chance to study the girl whilst their mothers talked quietly.

She was pretty – he couldn't deny that – with wavy brown hair and chocolate eyes; her nose was maybe a little too long and she could do with eating more, but she was far from bad to look at. He supposed that she must be like his cousin Narcissa, lording her beauty over others and expecting to receive things based on the merit of her looks and status alone. Briefly, he met her eyes and received the same assessing stare in return.

He tuned back into the conversation just in time to hear his mother asking what House the girl was in as if she didn't already know.

"Ravenclaw, but, well... that shouldn't be a problem given... ah, given the... _circumstances_" she cast a meaningful look in Sirius' direction at the last word and he only barely managed to keep himself in check.

"Ah, yes, of course," his mother replied, as everyone pretended to be unaware of the awkward silence that followed the statement.

"Perhaps the children could go for a walk, whilst we discussed matters further," her mother managed to make the question into a statement. Sirius watched as his mother nodded once in reply, not bothering to listen to the words she had to say. They were being dismissed, and that was good enough for him.

"Look," the girl began as soon as they were out of earshot of their parents. "I don't want to be here, so can we just make this easy and go outside until the come and get us – _no_ talking – and then we can forget this ever happened." Sirius stood there with his mouth hanging open slightly before he realised-

"Hey! What makes you think I want to be here?" was his indignant reply.

"You're a Black. The _heir_ of the House of Black. It's family duty, or something like that."

"I don't _care_ about family duty. I just want this to be over as quickly as possible."

"Then why are you complaining?" she mostly managed to keep her surprise hidden.

"I... oh. Uh..."

"Yeah, I thought so. So, are we sticking with the original plan?"

"You wanna see my bike?" he wasn't sure where that had come from; it certainly wasn't what he had meant to say.

"Is that a pick-up line? Because, I have to tell you – it's really bad."

"No!" he sounded absolutely scandalised; maybe a little too scandalised. "No." He toned it down slightly. "I have a bike. A motorbike," he added at her dubious expression. "I made it myself. Well... sort of. Modified it, I guess." She looked at him in silence for a few beats, before coming to an obvious decision with a put-upon sigh.

"Alright. Lead the way."


End file.
